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Protagonist of the attempt to form a Romanian theatre, Gheorghe Asachi translates from Italian and publishes in 1838, in Iaşi, Norma, a lirical tragedy written by Felice Romani as a libretto for Vincenzo Bellini. The present paper intends to analyze Asachi's translation in comparison with the Italian original. Taking into account the situation of the Romanian language at the time when Asachi proceeded to the translation, we cannot apply the principles of modern traductology to this analysis, but we can follow the accomplishments of the Romanian writer from the viewpoint of his faithfulness to the original and of the respect of the intentions of the Italian poet. There will also be underlined some lexical decisions that Asachi makes and that reflect his vision on the way that a translation should combine popular, regional or old elements with adaptable neologisms, without exagerations of any kind. Finally, it is important to consider that Asachi translates Norma with the purpose of having it represented in Romanian on stage. The necessity of respecting the musical phrasing is conditioning the translator but, far from being an impediment, proves Asachi's capacity to recreate into Romanian the musicality that characterizes the Italian language. The high quality in this respect of Asachi's translation is confirmed by the fact that, a year later, two Italian singers presenting in Iasi fragments of Norma, are pleased to accept the chorus interventions in Romanian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]